Democratic Convergence of Catalonia Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya | |
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| Abbreviation | CDC |
| Founder | Jordi Pujol |
| Founded | 17 November 1974 (1974-11-17) |
| Registered | 23 February 1977 (1977-02-23) |
| Dissolved | 10 July 2016 (2016-07-10) (refoundation)[a] |
| Succeeded by | Catalan European Democratic Party |
| Headquarters | Historical: C/ Còrsega, 331-333 08037,Barcelona Last: C/ Consell de Cent, 113-115, bjs. 08015,Barcelona |
| Youth wing | Nationalist Youth of Catalonia (1980–2016) |
| Ideology | |
| Political position | Centre-right |
| Regional affiliation | PDpC (1977–78) DiC (1977–78) CiU (1978–2015) Catalonia in the Senate (1982–83) JxSí (2015–16) DiL (2015–16) JuntsxCat (2017–19)[c] |
| European affiliation | ALDE Party |
| European Parliament group | ALDE Group (2004–2016) ELDR (1987–2004) |
| Colors | Blue Orange |
| Website | |
| www.cdccat.com | |
TheDemocratic Convergence of Catalonia (Catalan:Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya[kumbəɾˈʒɛnsi.əðəmuˈkɾatikəðəkətəˈluɲə],CDC), frequently shortened asConvergence (Catalan:Convergència[kumbəɾˈʒɛnsi.ə]) was aCatalan nationalist,liberalpolitical party inCatalonia (Spain),[2][3] currently still existing without any political activity.[c]
The party was originally created around the figure ofJordi Pujol in 1974, but it was not legally registered until February 1977.[13] Between 1978 and 2015, the party was a member of theConvergence and Union (CiU) alliance that dominated Catalan politics for almost the entirety of its existence; first as anelectoral alliance with thechristian democraticDemocratic Union of Catalonia (UDC), then as a party federation on 2 December 2001.[14] For 37 years, both parties contested all elections under the CiU umbrella, being the first political group in theParliament of Catalonia for its entire history and forming theregional government for nearly three decades (1980–2003 and 2010–2015). In June 2015, the CiU federation split over the issue ofCatalan independence.
On 8–10 July 2016, the party was refounded into theCatalan European Democratic Party (PDeCAT),[15][16] with CDC's political activity being passed to the new party, though CDC has remained active as a way to preserve its public funding and electoral rights in favour of the PDeCAT and theTogether for Catalonia alliance.[11] At the time of the party's refoundation in July 2016, it had 15,019 members.[17]
The party was founded on 17 November 1974 inSanta Maria de Montserrat Abbey as a "political movement" centered around the figure ofJordi Pujol.[18][19] After the death ofdictatorFrancisco Franco and in the wake of theSpanish transition to democracy, CDC was constituted as a political party in February 1976,[18] being officially registered as such one year later in 1977.[13] Convergence's aim would be to articulate itself as a transversalbig tent political platform, able of bringing together various social sectors—from left to right in thepolitical spectrum—of public life in Catalonia.[19]
Ahead of thefirst democratic election on 15 June 1977, CDC formed theDemocratic Pact for Catalonia electoral alliance for theCongress of Deputies, together with theSocialist Party of Catalonia–Regrouping (PSC–R),Democratic Left of Catalonia (EDC) and theNational Front of Catalonia (FNC);[20][21] for theSpanish Senate it formed theDemocracy and Catalonia coalition with the PSC–R, EDC andDemocratic Union of Catalonia (UDC). In the spring of 1978, a sector of the party unsuccessfully proposed its renaming as "Nationalist Party of Catalonia", a name which would be used by several party members 42 years later foranother political force.[22][23]
On 19 September 1978, CDC and UDC established theConvergence and Union (CiU) alliance,[24][25] under which both parties would contest together all elections held in Catalonia throughout the next 37 years together.[26] From the1979 Spanish general election onwards, CDC and UDC would maintain the CiU alliance for all elections at all levels of administration: local, regional and general.
Until their split in June 2015, the CiU alliance would dominate Catalan regional politics from the 1980s to the early 2000s, providing forJordi Pujol's long stay in theregional government for 23 consecutive years,[27] until a left-wing alliance comprising theSocialists' Party of Catalonia (PSC),Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) andInitiative for Catalonia Greens (ICV) was able to oust CiU from government and into opposition. It would not be until the2010 Catalan regional election held seven years later that CiU, underArtur Mas's leadership, was returned to government.
Beyond its dominance of Catalan politics, CDC sought to have influence in the Spanish parliament, collaborated with governments both under theSpanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) (and more critically, in the 1993–1996 period when the PSOE was forced into aminority government) as well as under thePeople's Party (PP) (1996–2004), giving their support to both parties's attempts to form government, then maintainingconfidence and supply agreements with them. CiU's support toFelipe González's government provided for the development of the "state of autonomies" the foundations for the financing of the autonomous communities. Under the PP governments ofJosé María Aznar, CDC supported the liberalizing and budgetary control measures that allowedSpain to eventually adopt theeuro as the country'scurrency. In the so-called "Majestic Pacts" signed between CiU and the PP after the latter's victory in the1996 Spanish general election, both parties had also agreed to further expand on the development of regional financing started during González's tenure, the abolition of compulsory military service and the devolution of powers to the autonomous communities.
Pujol's retirement ahead of the2003 Catalan regional election prompted Artur Mas—who served aschief minister (Catalan:Conseller en cap) and Pujol's protégée during the late stages of his government[28]—as his successor as CDC leader and CiU leading candidate.[29][30] After CiU's victory in the 2010 regional election, Mas would become the newpresident of the Government of Catalonia, introducing previously unseen variable geometry in the region's politics: first by partnering with the opposition's main party the PSC,[31] then seeking collaboration with thelocal PP branch for approving the regional budget.[32] As a result of the11 September 2012 demonstration, Mas sought to capitalize on the social momentum ofindependence by triggering asnap election for 25 November, hoping to expand his parliamentary majority and attain an absolute majority; instead, his party suffered a severe setback by falling from 62 to 50 seats, having to rely on the support of the pro-independenceRepublican Left of Catalonia (ERC) to keep himself in power. Frictions with CDC's alliance partner UDC over the issue of independence ended up in the termination of CiU as a political project in June 2015.[33]
Concurrently, the party had been shaken by CDC founder Jordi Pujol's confession on 25 July 2014 that he had hidden "money located abroad" from the Public Treasury for 34 years, allegedly attributed to his father's, Florenci Pujol, heritage.[34] In his statement, Pujol regretted never having found the "right time" for the regularization of these amounts of money and asked the public for forgiveness.[35] Various media outlets pointed out that this money was located in secret bank accounts abroad and could have benefitted from thefiscal amnesty promoted by the Spanish government ofMariano Rajoy in 2012.[36][37] Coupled with the ongoing judicial investigations on an alleged CDC corruption scandal involving thepayment of illegal commissions in exchange for the award of public works—in what would be known as the "3% case" because of that amount being the percentage of the public works' budgets that was to be illegally paid—Pujol's confession caused a profound commotion in Catalan society, which had the former president as a revered public figure with a large amount of influence.[38]
Following CiU's breakup, CDC contested the2015 Catalan regional election within theJunts pel Sí coalition,[39][40] and the2015 Spanish general election within theDemocracy and Freedom alliance.[41] The2016 Spanish general election would be the only one in CDC's long electoral history which the party would contest entirely on its own.[42]
In a party ballot held on 21 May 2016 to determine the party's future, CDC members were asked whether they backed a "renovation" of the party as it was, or instead supported a full "refoundation" with the establishment of a new, different party,[17][43] leading to a 67–32% result in favour of refoundation.[44] As a result, during its congress held from 8 to 10 July 2016, the newCatalan European Democratic Party (PDeCAT) was established, out of a desire for presenting a renewed trademark disassociated from CDC's corruption scandals, occurring during its long-term dominance of Catalan regional politics.[45][46] The refoundation, intended as a pre-ordained scheme which the party's grassroots ultimately took away from its leadership, would only hasten the blurring of the post-convergent political space, after seeing the loss of the historical CDC label, the dilution of the PDeCAT within theJunts pel Sí parliamentary group with a number of various parties and independents, the increasing influence of Catalan presidentCarles Puigdemont in regional politics even after his ousting and subsequent self-exile in late October 2017 and the eventual coalescing of former pro-independence CDC members around theTogether for Catalonia umbrella, dominated by Puigdemont's own party, theNational Call for the Republic.[47][48]
Several parties would be formed from splinter CDC/PDeCAT elements weary of Puigdemont's growing influence and seeking to occupy the vacuum left by CiU's dissolution and appeal to Convergence's "orphan" voters. These included theFree (Lliures) party founded by former regional minister Antoni Fernández Teixidó,Convergents (CNV) of formerregional minister of justice Germà Gordó, theDemocratic League (LD) of political scientist Astrid Barrio and theNationalist Party of Catalonia (PNC) led by former PDeCAT coordinator-general between 2016 and 2018Marta Pascal.[49]
On 15 January 2018, a court in Barcelona ruled that CDC had received €6.6 million in illegal commissions from building firmFerrovial between 1999 and 2009, inexchange for public works contracts. The scheme used thePalau de la Música Catalana concert venue as a front for false invoicing.[50] Twelve people were jailed and fined millions. The former CDC treasurer Daniel Osàcar was sentenced to four years and five months in prison and fined €3.7 million forinfluence peddling andmoney laundering.[51]Fèlix Millet, the former director of the Palau, was jailed for just under 10 years and fined €4.1 million and his deputy, Jordi Montull, received a 7 years and six months sentence and was fined €2.9 million. Millet and Montull were the individuals who benefited most from the scam, controlling the Palau's funds.[50][51] TheTurkey Telegraph noted the "final impunity of the CDC leaders", and also the impunity for the company that paid illegal commissions. Earlier in January,Artur Mas, who was a close ally of Osàcar, had stepped down as party president.[52]
| Parliament of Catalonia | |||||||
| Election | Votes | % | # | Seats | +/– | Leading candidate | Status in legislature |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | WithinCiU | 35 / 135 | — | Jordi Pujol | Minority | ||
| 1984 | WithinCiU | 56 / 135 |  21 | Jordi Pujol | Coalition(CiU–ERC) | ||
| Majority(from February 1987) | |||||||
| 1988 | WithinCiU | 54 / 135 |  2 | Jordi Pujol | Majority | ||
| 1992 | WithinCiU | 54 / 135 |  0 | Jordi Pujol | Majority | ||
| 1995 | WithinCiU | 46 / 135 | 8 | Jordi Pujol | Minority | ||
| 1999 | WithinCiU | 43 / 135 | 3 | Jordi Pujol | Minority | ||
| 2003 | WithinCiU | 33 / 135 | 10 | Artur Mas | Opposition | ||
| 2006 | WithinCiU | 34 / 135 | 1 | Artur Mas | Opposition | ||
| 2010 | WithinCiU | 45 / 135 | 11 | Artur Mas | Minority | ||
| 2012 | WithinCiU | 37 / 135 | 8 | Artur Mas | Minority(CDC–UDC) | ||
| Minority(CDC; from June 2015) | |||||||
| 2015 | WithinJxSí | 30 / 135 | 7[53] | Artur Mas | Coalition(CDC–ERC) | ||
| Cortes Generales | |||||||||
| Election | Congress | Senate | Leading candidate | Status in legislature | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | # | Seats | +/– | Seats | +/– | |||
| 1977 | WithinPDC/DiC | 5 / 350 | — | 2 / 207 | — | Jordi Pujol | Opposition | ||
| 1979 | WithinCiU | 7 / 350 | 2 | 1 / 208 | 1 | Jordi Pujol | Opposition | ||
| 1982 | WithinCiU/CatSen | 9 / 350 | 2 | 4 / 208 | 3 | Miquel Roca | Opposition | ||
| 1986 | WithinCiU | 13 / 350 | 4 | 7 / 208 | 3 | Miquel Roca | Opposition | ||
| 1989 | WithinCiU | 13 / 350 | 0 | 8 / 208 | 1 | Miquel Roca | Opposition | ||
| 1993 | WithinCiU | 12 / 350 | 1 | 7 / 208 | 1 | Miquel Roca | Confidence and supply | ||
| 1996 | WithinCiU | 11 / 350 | 1 | 6 / 208 | 1 | Joaquim Molins | Confidence and supply | ||
| 2000 | WithinCiU | 11 / 350 | 0 | 6 / 208 | 0 | Xavier Trias | Opposition | ||
| 2004 | WithinCiU | 6 / 350 | 5 | 4 / 208 | 2 | Josep Antoni Duran i Lleida | Opposition | ||
| 2008 | WithinCiU | 6 / 350 | 0 | 4 / 208 | 0 | Josep Antoni Duran i Lleida | Opposition | ||
| 2011 | WithinCiU | 10 / 350 | 4 | 7 / 208 | 3 | Josep Antoni Duran i Lleida | Opposition | ||
| 2015 | WithinDiL | 7 / 350 | 3 | 5 / 208 | 2 | Francesc Homs | New election | ||
| 2016 | 483,488 | 2.01% | 6th | 8 / 350 | 1 | 2 / 208 | 3 | Francesc Homs | Opposition |
| Election | Catalonia | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Congress | Senate | ||||||
| Votes | % | # | Seats | +/– | Seats | +/– | |
| 1977 | WithinPDC/DiC | 5 / 47 | — | 2 / 16 | — | ||
| 1979 | WithinCiU | 7 / 47 | 2 | 1 / 16 | 1 | ||
| 1982 | WithinCiU/CatSen | 9 / 47 | 2 | 4 / 16 | 3 | ||
| 1986 | WithinCiU | 13 / 47 | 4 | 7 / 16 | 3 | ||
| 1989 | WithinCiU | 13 / 46 | 0 | 8 / 16 | 1 | ||
| 1993 | WithinCiU | 12 / 47 | 1 | 7 / 16 | 1 | ||
| 1996 | WithinCiU | 11 / 46 | 1 | 6 / 16 | 1 | ||
| 2000 | WithinCiU | 11 / 46 | 0 | 6 / 16 | 0 | ||
| 2004 | WithinCiU | 6 / 47 | 5 | 4 / 16 | 2 | ||
| 2008 | WithinCiU | 6 / 47 | 0 | 4 / 16 | 0 | ||
| 2011 | WithinCiU | 10 / 47 | 4 | 7 / 16 | 3 | ||
| 2015 | WithinDiL | 7 / 47 | 3 | 5 / 16 | 2 | ||
| 2016 | 483,488 | 13.90% | 6th | 8 / 47 | 1 | 2 / 16 | 3 |
| European Parliament | |||||
| Election | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | # | Seats | +/– | |
| 1987 | WithinCiU | 2 / 60 | — | ||
| 1989 | WithinCiU | 1 / 60 | 1 | ||
| 1994 | WithinCiU | 2 / 64 | 1 | ||
| 1999 | WithinCiU | 2 / 64 | 0 | ||
| 2004 | WithinCiU (Galeusca) | 1 / 54 | 1 | ||
| 2009 | WithinCiU (CEU) | 1 / 54 | 0 | ||
| 2014 | WithinCiU (CEU) | 1 / 54 | 0 | ||
| Represented in the Parliament of Catalonia (135) |
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| Represented in the Spanish Congress of Deputies (48 out of 350) | |
| Represented in the Spanish Senate (24 out of 266) | |
(*) With an asterisk, candidates who do not have their own parliamentary group. | |
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